It’s been a big year for scientific advancements in the UK – first a girl became the first Brit to be cryogenically frozen, and now, it has been revealed that British Airways plan on giving passengers a ‘digital pill’ to read their in-flight happiness.

the small pill which has been patented by BA, will be designed to monitor stomach acidity levels and will be able to inform staff of a number of things including how cold, hungry, or generally comfortable the passenger is. Staff will then use this information to adjust the environment accordingly, making it the most enjoyable flight possible.

A ‘digital pill’ has been patented by British Airways and when swallowed by passengers, will be able to inform staff of a number of things including how comfortable, hungry, or tired passengers are. (Credit: British Airways)

The idea is part of BA’s patent application for a ‘system and method for controlling the travel environment for a passenger,’ and they hope that it will alter the entire concept of flight.

In their application filed to the Intellectual Property Office earlier this year, BA writes:

“What is desired is a system that facilitates greater efficiencies within the aircraft travel environment and enables improved control and personalisation of the passenger’s travel environment, in particular for enhanced passenger wellness and wellbeing when flying,” and they cite their ‘Jet Lag Fighter’ app which also focuses on customer wellbeing, allowing passengers to enter personal data to trigger a programme that assists in jet lag.

BA hope that the ‘digital pill’ will alter the entire concept of flight for the better. (Credit: Proteus)

When it comes to the ‘digital pill,’ BA are not the first to try it. Proteus Digital Health – a California based digital medical service – already offer the pill to their patients, along with a patch and smartphone app, as a way of tracking whether they have been following doctors’ orders.

It sounds like a huge technological advancement, but we’re not sure how we’d feel having our insides tracked like that…